Gauging apparatus



1935- I A. P. STECKEL AL 2,019,741

GAUGING APPARATUS Fi1ed Jan. 16, 1935 of which it is desired to measure.

Patented Nov. 5, 1935 UNITED STATES-T P -rE r FFICE.

l GAUGING APPARATUS Abram P; Stcckel and Howard 8. Lamb, Youngstown, 0

him. assignors to The Cold Metal Proce- Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application January 16, 1933, Serial meanest r 4 Claims. 01. 33-148) Our invention relates to a device for gauging the thickness of material and, in particular, to

a device for providing a continuous indication of the thickness of moving material in long lengths.

Numerous .devices for continuously gauging moving material, of course, have 'been known heretofore. It is a particular object of our invention, however, toprovide a novel form of gauge which is simple in construction and yet sturdy.

enough to withstand the rather severe usage to which devices of this kind are subject in normal service. The invention is applicable chiefly to uses where extreme accuracy of measurement is not essential.

' In accordance with our invention, we provide hinged arms somewhat on the order of calipers,

which are pivoted for limited rotation. Resilient .the frictional eifect of the material passing'between the arms is sufllcient to rotate the latter through a predetermined angle untilthe arms are separated to an extent such that the frictional eilfect of the moving material is exactly balanced by the torque of the resetting spring.

For a complete understanding of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawing illustrating a present preferred embodiment. In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the invention;

- lines at 31 in Figure 3, representing the end Figure 2 is a sectional view substantially along the line 11-11- of Figure 1 with parts being shown in elevation;*'"and Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating 'the position of the device when used in connection with a known type of four-high mill for cold rolling strip steel.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, the device comprises a column In resting on, a base I l. A socket I2 is vertically adjustable in the column I o by means of a knurled collar I3 threaded thereon. Thesocket l2 carries a post l4 supported therein on a compression spring l5. The post I4 is secured against rotation in any convenient manner and is provided with a crosshead it adjacent its upper end. A graduated circular segment i1 is secured to the ends of the crosshead by screws II. A caliper or micrometer arm I! is pivoted on the post l4 bymeans of anti-friction bearings 20. The arm I9 has a shoe 2| sliding on the lower surface of the segment l'l,'and a contact ball 22 .adapted.to

engage the lower surface of a piece of moving material 23. A second 'caliper or micrometer arm 24 is pivoted to the aim l9 at 25. The arm 24 has a shoe26 sliding on'theupper surface of the segment l1 which is provided with a slightincline indicated at 21.. 28 isalso mounted on the the arm 24 for cooperation with the graduated segment ll. A contact ball 29 is adiustably supported on the arm 24 by a screw 30 to engage the upper surface of the material 23. A tension spring 3| tends 5.

to maintain the caliper arms in'contact with the material. An'adiusting screw am permits adjustment of the spring tension. A second' spring Ilbhas one end secured to the post l4 and the other to the arm is, and its eflect is to exert a torque on the arms tending to turn them in a counterclockwise direction.

The invention is particularly useful in con nection with a mill for rolling strip in long A mill of this type, known in the art lengths. as a four-high reversing mill, is indicated schematically in Figure 3. The mill comprises working rolls 32 and backing rolls 33, the latter being preferably mounted in anti-friction bearings.

Winding and unwinding reels 34 and 35 are emplpyed to drawa strip back and forth through the mill over the guide rolls 36. It is desirable, of course, to known the gauge of all the portions of the, strip as it passes through the mill in order that the screwdowns thereof may be properly 35 actuated. For this purpose, the device of our invention may be installed as indicated in dotted elevation of the caliper arms 'in position'for engaging the strip or other' material, such as that 40 the caliper arms are swung into engagement therewith. At any time during the movement of the material, however, the frictional eflect -of the latter on the arms l9 and 24 through the contact balls 22 and 29 willbe to turn the arms in a clockwise direction, if it is assumed that the material moves in the direction v0i the arrow shown in Figure 1.

The rotation of the arms by their frictional engagement with the material is opposed by the torque of the spring 3lb which, of course, increases as the arms are ro-' u A graduated segment 10 gagement of the shoe I! of the arm '24 with the inclined portion 2'! of the segment II. It will be apparent that, for apredetermined adjustment of the springs II and lib, the arms I! andsegments i] may thus be calibrated so as to read the thickness of the material 23 directly from a scale 38 by means of the movable scale 28.

Resilient bumpers 39 on the segment l'l serve as stops to prevent rotation of the. arms I! and 24 through an angle of more than about 160.

It will be apparent from the foregoing descrip-' tion that our invention provides a relatively simplegauger having suflicient accuracy for many uses, characterized by rigid construction and comparatively low cost. The devl ce is direct reading and can be made quite sensitive. It is particularly effective in indicating departures from a constant gauge of the-material passing therethrough. If the thickness of the material increases, the caliper arms are swung clockwise until the resulting separation of the arms restores the balance between the frictional effect of the moving material on the contact balls and the torque of the resetting spring 3Ib. The contact balls are preferably made of hardened steel to resist wear. even should the balls wear considerably, the accuracy of the device is not substantially affected since the frictional effect of the moving material on the arms is not changed greatly by the wearing of. the balls. Compensating adjustment of the springs 3| and 3lb maybe made to maintain the accuracy of the device.

Although we have illustrated and described in the device as illustrated and described may bemade without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

It should be noted, however, that' tated clockwise. Such rotation, furthermore, tends to spread the arms by reason of the en- 1. A device for continuously gauging material having longitudinal movement in a plane, comprising a post perpendicular to said plane, a pair of caliper arms on said post engaging the ma-' terial frictionally, said caliper arms being rotatable about said post in said plane and openable in planes perpendicular to said first-mentioned plane, means for spreading the arms on rotation thereof by frictional engagement with said material, and means'for yieldingly opposing such rotation.

2. A device for gauging moving material comprising a pair of calipers, means supporting said calipers for swinging movement as a unit; means responsive to such swinging movement for separating said calipers, including a wedge segment, and means normally tending to close the calipers.

3. A device for continuously gauging moving material, comprising a pair of calipers hinged von a common axis, means supporting the calipers 2 for rotation in a plane parallel to said axis, means causing the calipers to grip material .moving therebetween, means supporting the calipers for limited movement with the material, means'yieldinglyopposing such caliper movement, and 25 means responsive to such caliper movement for separating the calipers in proportion to their said movement to balance the frictional force of the moving material thereon and the force opposingcaliper movement, at a predetermined position of the calipers for each particular gauge.

4. Apparatus for continuously gauging strip material moving in a predetermined plane, comprising a post perpendicular-to said plane, a pair of calipers hinged for opening "and closing movementin a plane containing the axis of said post, whereby to engage the material on opposite sides, said calipers being mounted for rotation on said post, means for normally urging the calipers to closed position, and means effective on swinging 4'0 movement of the calipers resulting from the frictional engagement thereof with the material, for separating the calipers.

ABRAM P. ISTECKEL. 4s HOWARD s. LAMB. 

